


forced redemption

by TheArtCat



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Found Family, M/M, a buttload of trauma, but like, give my boy a shot?, he's not even in this yet so you might as well read it, i know original characters can make people uncomfortable, i worked hard to make him not-terrible, me shipping scourge with an original character so he learns what a healthy relationship actually is, redemption arc, stupid bastard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25088872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArtCat/pseuds/TheArtCat
Summary: The good doctor finds Scourge covered in wounds and missing a leg, he heals him up and calls some familiar faces over to give him the redemption arc he deserves dammit.
Relationships: Scourge the Hedgehog/Original Character(s), but like... he hasn't even been introduced yet
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	1. Robot leg

Kintobor worked on his desk in silence, finalizing the touches on the prosthetic he’d made for Scourge.

Said hedgehog was sitting on a bed, curled up in a ball, and holding himself tightly. He had multiple scars on his face, chest, and leg, not counting the lost limb. He had bandaged his amputated leg and disinfected the wounds after Buns had brought him in the lab in a panic.

Apparently, while she was doing her usual security checks around the building, he’d popped out of a ring portal in the garden, barely conscious. She’d rushed to him, holding the hedgehog, immediately.

The doctor had asked him to take off his jacket so he could check on his arms, but he only got a flinch and a muttered 'No' as a response. He knew there were scars under there, but the hedgehog was always protective of his vests. He suspected they represented some artificial shield to him, making him feel a little less vulnerable.

"Scourge? I’m going to put on your prosthetic okay? "

He nodded, scooting over to the edge of the bed. His hands clutched the covers like a lifeline. he hadn’t seemed relaxed the entire time he was here, which wasn’t surprising since he had just lost his greatest strength and was currently in the house of a man he’d tormented for years.

"The leg will connect to your nervous system so it might hurt a bit, it should be resistant enough to let you run at full speed but I still think you ought to give yourself a few days' rests. "

Scourge stayed silent, the lack of insults coming from him started to worry the vet.

"Scourge, you’re going to need to tell me how you lost your leg, you know that right? "

The hedgehog was silent for a moment, then spoke. "The Destructix and I went on some mission for Finitevus, something went wrong, I got separated. Got hurt. The building blew up. The guys died and Fi left me. That’s pretty much it."

He finished putting the prosthetic on him. This had been the easy part of the day, his usual work of helping the less than fortunate. Now came the hard part. Scourge may be a criminal, but he could absolutely not go back to zone jail in his state. It would only make his mental state deteriorate.

"Scourge, you know you can’t stay in Moebius, right? Even if you stayed here, the suppression squad would find you eventually. " he looked into the nineteen-year-old's eyes when he said this, trying to bring the subject up as carefully as possible.

The hedgehog’s face went dark, he took a shaky breath. "Just make sure I don’t go back to prison, all right? The cellmates’ll probably smash the metal leg up into bits and you’ll have worked all day for nothing."

He sighed. "I will see what I can do then. "

Of all the things to happen today, being called by his worst enemy’s good counterpart to help deal with his own evil twin was probably what Sonic expected the least.

"Hey doc, you said you wanted to meet us? " He gestured to the chipmunk besides him, this being more of a negotiation kind of mission, he thought bringing their leader would probably be best.

"Ah yes! Princess Sally, it is quite an honor to meet you." He made a bow as he did so, making them both laugh at the kind but ultimately unnecessary show of respect. "Scourge is in the other room, he is asleep, but I think it best for him to be aware of our final decision on the matter."

As they entered, Sonic finally saw the body laying on a small cot in the room, making his eyes widen. When he first got the kind old doctor’s call, he was honestly ready to deliver him to the zone cops in two seconds max. Now he was feeling conflicted.

His double was covered head to toe in scratch marks, bruises, and burns. His quills had been dulled so badly that it made him cringe away. The worst of it had to be the metal leg sticking out of the covers. He knew it was a prosthetic, but metallic limbs, in general, freaked most Mobians out these days. The fact that it looked like a perfect greyscale model of metal sonic didn’t help either. It made sense, but he still had to stop himself from rolling into a ball and smash everything in the room at the sight of it.

"He... really got roughed up recently huh?"

"Yes, he has also had reoccurring nightmares every day since he came here. To the point that when I offered him a prazosin prescription he immediately accepted; usually he just tries to shrug it off and act as if the solution is beneath him. Him actually accepting makes me hopeful that he'll let himself be helped more easily, but makes me dread what must have happened for him to let his tough persona crack."

"Reminds me of another stubborn hedgehog I know." Sally looked at Sonic cheekily.

"Hey, I resent that!" Sonic reprimanded, though it was not quite believable because of the smile that was formed on his cheeks.

"If you’re going to bitch all day, can you do it somewhere I won’t hear ya?" the two looked at the figure on the bed who started to rise. "What? Came to mock me or somethin’?"

"What? No, Scourge. We’re here to help you. Because we’re helpers. " the _even though you’re a jerk_ went unsaid this time.

"Have you two even thought I might not want your fucking pity help huh? "He said defensively. Trying to burn the bridge down in advance so it doesn’t collapse with him on it.

"Well, it’ll make my job a lot easier at least." A voice behind the four of them said. A rip in space seemed to form, and out of it came a zone cop the same shape and height as the two other hedgehogs in front of him.

"Zonic? What are you doing here? " the blue blur asked, not noticing how the other hedgehog in the room seemed to tighten his hold on his bed in a panic, his eyes fixed on the control collar stuck to his belt.

"Two Mobius Prime signature were shown to have left their world, and so I felt it necessary to investigate. Now I realize that there is a wanted criminal in the room, and I can figure out from here you were trying to find a way to figure out what to do with him. " He said, looking at an endless stream of information projected from his gauntlet.

"I can narrow that choice down for you," He continued, " Legally speaking, Scourge must serve a five-year sentence for his crimes. Usually, it would be spent in zone jail, but having seen the treatment he’s been getting there and the fact that his left leg is now detachable, I’d say he’d have about two weeks before being beaten to death. The other option for him would be… community service. "

Scourge looked mortified but Sonic only smiled in retort. "I like where this is going"

"No. "

"I mean, think about it for a sec-"

"Absolutely not! " Scourge’s eyes became wild and unfocused. His tone got louder. "I will never! Ever! Be a part of your stupid goody-two-shoe hug-party! " his claws dug into the fabric, accidentally ripping part of the mattress

"Scourge come on, take a breath and _think._ " the blue blur put his hand on his shoulder, he pushed it off. "the only other option you have is a _death sentence_ , are you really that put off by us that you would rather die than give us a shot?"

"I-" Scourge tried to argue but couldn’t think of anything to say. He looked at the Zone cop warily. "If I’m going to work with the freedom fighters, I can’t wear that control collar you have, it’ll make me effectively useless. What are ya gonna do then huh? "

"You won’t wear the collar during your sentence this time Scourge, but you’ll have to wear a ring bracelet telling us your exact location. That bracelet will be able to neutralize you if you try anything, but the effects aren’t constant like the collar’s. Also, you'll get a parole officer who you'll meet about once every week and will be helping you rehabilitate."

The con thought about it for some time. The bracelet did sound like a way better deal than the collar, but he didn’t like the sound of that ‘neutralize’ thing, nor the parole officer getting his nose all over his private life. Still, _anything_ would be better than being stuck in that hellhole. He then lifted his head up in defeat. "Fine. I’ll work for you. But let’s be clear here, " he looked to Sonic this time. "Once my sentence is done, I am _gone._ "

The chipmunk opened a small computer and ordered it to prepare a room in the HQ while Sonic just smiled at the criminal beside him. "Welcome to the freedom fighters, Scourge! "


	2. friendly chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a talk and a flashback.

It was late in the afternoon, and Scourge started to pace back and forth inside Kintobor’s lab.

He was waiting for the zone cop to come back from discussing his sentence with the warden. Legally, he should be allowed to work for the freedom fighters, and he knew the warden’s whole deal was to ‘rehabilitate’ people, but he couldn’t stop himself from worrying.

What if the warden refuses? What if Zonic was wrong about the community service and he was going to get thrown back in again? What if Blue changes his mind about the whole thing? What if he does manage to work but fucks it all up? What if-

"I’ve been looking at you for two seconds an’ I’m already feeling the stress emanating from ya, short stuff."

"Oh. Hey, buns."

"Hey. Ya worried about the whole ‘workin with the enemy’ thing? Cause I can guarantee ya it ain’t as bad as you think it is."

"Yeah, yeah… why are you here, exactly?"

" ’cause a’ heard your stress walking through the ceiling an’ it made me worry you were gonna burn a hole through it?"

"I mean- don’t make me say it…"

"What? "

"Urgh, fine… you… trying to help me? I guess? An’ it’s weird cause… when this-" he waved his hands to the omega armor. "happened, I left ya to die. I dunno why you even bothered to bring me to the doc instead of throwing me behind a bush or somethin’"

She looked at him with weirdly sympathetic eyes. "Scourge… Ah’ve been workin’ with the doc for a while now, an’ if Ah realized one thing, it’s that this world is way too harsh of a judge on it’s people. Ah would’ve probably done the same as you at the time, but… the thing about people Green boy? It’s that you gotta let ‘em learn to be better before they actually are. Everybody should get a second chance, even if it ain’t with the people who they made a mistake with in the first place."

"I feel pretty fucking hypocritical right now…"

"yeah, ya kinda are. But ya know what? "

"What? "

"Nobody who actually matters in this scenario gives a shit, Ah sure don’t. So here’s what you’re gonna do; ya gonna work for those freedom fighters out in Mobius prime or whatever for five years, ya gonna learn how to treat people the way decent people do, ya gonna learn to say sorry without trying to bury it under a hash tone and an ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude, and you’re going to become a better person. Ya don’t have to stick with the goody-goody club forever, but you got a second chance at life right now. Ya better take it."

He looked into her eyes solemnly. "I’m sorry I was such a fuckin’ jerk to ya, buns."

She smiled, "Pretty good for ya first time. "

His face went red. "I’ve apologized before!"

"Pfft, Nah ya haven’t. oh, ‘reminds me-" she dug into her omega armor and fished out a strange-looking phone, throwing it in Scourge’s lap. "It’s so you can send me updates on those guys. Bet with yer position ya could learn a bunch of embarrassing details"

They both started to laugh at the idea, but Scourge got the hidden message pretty clearly. _Let’s keep in touch_. "Alright, that’s a promise. "

* * *

It had been about an hour and Zonic still wasn’t back. Scourge sighed on the small bed as he tried to fall asleep again. He’d been doing that a lot since his nightmares became less extreme thanks to the doctor’s pills, though he’d rather die than admit he was grateful for them. The world started to blur itself again as he drifted away.

* * *

_They had been walking for two hours now, though it felt like days for Scourge. Earlier in the day, they went on some mission for Doctor Von Creepy. (He didn’t want to at first, since he wanted to take his vengeance on his old gang, but Fi convinced him they’d need some budget if they wanted to fight what was probably the current government of an entire planet. Chaos, he hated how reasonable she could be sometimes.) Anyway, they were working in a gigantic cave and a huge rock fell on him while he was running. He was pretty sure his leg was at least partially broken._

**_You have to keep walking._ ** _He told himself **. If you don’t, you’re going to be left for dead.**_

_He tried to keep his flinching to a minimum, but it wasn’t enough apparently, since predator and lightning kept stealing glances at him._

_All of a sudden, the hawk jumped, putting Scourge’s arms being his back while lightning crouched down in front of his legs. He tried to kick out, but the lynx simply moved to the side of his injured limb, which made every action a lot more painful for the attacker than for the target._

_"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING?"_

_"I think you’re the better-qualified idiot in this situation," Lightning responded, taking off the hedgehog’s left shoe. "We’ve been noticing how hesitant your steps were and how much heavier your breathing got, no matter how hard you tried to hide it. Enhanced senses, remember?" They scowled at him, it seemed more in disapproval than in disgust, which Scourge felt pretty confused by._

_Still, he couldn’t be stuck in some forest alone right now. "So, what? You’re going to leave me to die here? Cause of some stupid rock? I’m your fucking leader assholes! "_

_"What? No-" He started, but then flinched at the sight of the enormous purple bruises on his ankle. "That- that is ridiculous Scourge. Do you realize that? Come on-" he gestured towards Simian, who wordlessly gave him a bunch of rolled up fabrics from one of his pouches. He still struggled in his hold, so it took a while for him to notice that the other mammal was apparently making him a cast._

_Scourge looked completely lost. "What are you doing?"_

_"Making sure you don’t worsen your injury because abandoning you would be losing one of our biggest assets. Maybe try a thank you next time instead of insults. Simian? "_

_The large ape then lifted the hedgehog up and dropped him on his shoulders. The shock on the smaller one’s face growing more and more. He heard he frog snicker behind him._

_"Chaos, won’t I slow you down? Do I even weigh anything to you? "_

_Sergeant shook his head. " No. It’s like holding a couple of grapes."_

_"Oh. ok." He and Fiona looked at each other, their philosophy of leaving the weak behind making them feel very conflicted. They weren’t going to say anything though, Scourge being the weakling that needed to be cast away and Fiona not wanting to get in a fight with the four mercenaries._

_Suddenly, she opened her mouth and spoke. "Fucking Chaos will you please wake up?"_

* * *

The green hedgehog’s eyes flew open, and he felt a bit saddened knowing he was back in reality.

"You sure are a sound sleeper, huh?" emerald eyes hidden behind a mask stared back at him. "Anyway, rapport went well. You are assigned to work with the freedom fighters for the next five years and will be visited by your parole officer -yours truly- every Monday. You will always be required to wear a ring bracelet during your sentence so that we can make sure they get actually served. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Got it." he got up from his bed tiredly. "So, when do I start, huh?"

The zone cop opened a portal behind him. "Your shift starts tomorrow at nine o’clock, but I feel you should come a day early to get used to your surroundings. "

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here's my first chapter! do hope you guys like it. If you don't, tell me why in the comments, please!


End file.
